Comments on: Conscious coupling

By: Joelle

Joelle — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 22:49:58 +0000

I’m sure you know this since you’re an agent, but when a writer sells a screenplay to a studio, or whoever’s going to make it, they sell the copyright. The Writer’s Guild of America works to ensure they get the proper credit, but with the transfer of the copyright, their actual writing becomes “write for hire” and is covered by the WGA contract. My point is that you don’t have to write under a pseudonym if your collaborating (and sometimes you can’t)and there can be many writers (and usually is) on a project. It’s entirely different with books because you have to share the copyright, plus, as you said, there are all kinds of contractual issues to try and figure out so you’re not limited on your next work. And there are other things too, like when I asked my agent about writing with a friend he said one of the problems is that we have two different agents and two different publishers…who pitches/sells it? Who publishes it?

So, from a writer’s point of view, I don’t think I’d want to try it because of the logistics, but I don’t think I’d be very good at it anyway (creatively). As far as reading collaborations goes, I’ve only read a few, but they appeared seamless and I wouldn’t have necessarily known if there hadn’t been two names on the book. I have two friends who write a mystery series together and even the guy’s wife can’t always tell who wrote what! I think you really have to be able to let go of your ego to write collaboratively.

By: Katie Newingham

Katie Newingham — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 19:42:56 +0000

I wouldn’t be offended. It’s about the writing getting better, and the stories getting out there. Plus, to be honest, I don’t remember authors names, I remember the story, if it’s gripping.

By: Jane

Jane — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 18:59:52 +0000

Absolutely. There are important considerations on both sides.

By: Kellie

Kellie — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 18:42:26 +0000

I have read a couple of book that were co-authored, however, they may fall more into that happy grey area of the concerns you mentioned. One of the teams are husband and wife (Barb and J.C. Hendee, authors of the Noble Dead Series) and the other is Jefferson Bass (who have successful careers in and outside of writing).

I was hesitant to read co-authored books before I picked up my first one. I was worried about the writing style and story line not flowing as well as it would in a book with a single author. I’m not saying that every collaboration may turn out this way, but I was pleasantly surprised with how seamlessly the ones I read seemed to flow.

I can completely see the points of your concerns, but I also see why the thought of collaborating with another author would be appealing. I think if I were to be faced with that choice I would have to decide if the pros outweighed the cons.

By: Jane

Jane — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 16:44:20 +0000

Sales can be important especially if a writer wants to earn royalties and have an easier time selling his/her next work. Using a pseudonym in a collaboration will not help the individual author in this case. Ideally though, working with someone else on a collaboration should help each participant improve their individual writing skills.

By: D. C. DaCosta

D. C. DaCosta — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 16:27:53 +0000

Other than celebrity autobiographies (“as told to” or “with”) and a couple of humor books written by teams (e.g. Bob and Ray), I don’t think I’ve even consciously encountered a co-authored book.

You say, “If they use a pseudonym for the collaboration, they will not receive the credit they would want for writing the book and if the collaboration results in a successful book, it would not further their career when writing under their own names.” Is this really important? It seems to me that the skills and experience gained by the collaboration would only serve to strengthen each of them for future projects.